Sometimes You Just Have To Be There In Person.

Hello, everyone.

I welcome you to my blog and another wonderful edition of the Hive Learner's featured post. The continuous evolvement of technology is having a lot of effect on our lives as humans; both negative and positive effects are seen. One of the aspects of our lives where we have seen technology have the most effect is our friendship and relationship with others. In those days before technology evolved to the point that it is today, we visited friends and family more often and hung out more often, but today things are completely different; we hardly leave our rooms and don't even associate with people living under the same roof with us because we are always on our phones. If we don't associate with people who live under the same roof with us, what about those who are a few miles away?

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People now feel too lazy to visit friends and family because they feel if anything was wrong with them, they'd let them know on the phone or even video calls. I have heard people say, "What is the point of going to his house if I can call him on a video call and see him? From the video call I can know if anything is wrong with him or not, and that is the advantage of technology," but it is not supposed to be so. There are many things that friend you feel is okay because the video call says so wants to say but won't say because you are not there in person. There are people who will open up when you are face-to-face with them but will hold back and make you feel like they are doing okay when you are not.

Technology is good, but it is affecting our friendships in ways that words cannot express; we are now distant physically but are present virtually. We are bonding online and losing our physical bonds with both family and friends. These days even family members have no time for each other, as everyone now owns a smartphone, laptop, or computer, and they are always on it, having little or no time to create a bond as a family. In the future, many will grow up to realize that they actually did not make any memories with their family and even friends, as they spent most of their time on their phones instead of making memories.

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Online friendships cannot replace the need for face-to-face friendships; they can keep one company and help kill boredom, but there are other things a friendship requires that online friendships cannot offer. There are times when you just have to be there in person,as virtually you will not be able to do anything, but physically there is a lot you can do. When a friend of mine lost his dad, we all wanted to console him and sympathize with him online because we were distant, but his mother called asking that we send at least two people to come and stay with him so he does not do anything stupid, as he has attempted that once already.

We went and stayed with him for days, trying to get his mind off the pain and the fact that his dad was no more. No doubt there were changes even his mother noticed and commended. Online friendships are good, but sometimes you just have to be there in person; you can do more when you are there physically, while all you can do virtually is talk and chat.